Yeah, this is fairly normal with iTunes. What you think of as a season and what Apple thinks of as a season aren't necessarily the same. Most notable with kids' shows - Phineas and Ferb just started season 4. Or, as Apple calls it, season 9. (And before you claim this is the studio - Amazon doesn't tend to do the same IME.)

On the plus side (what there is of it), they generally charge based on how many episodes you get, so it's not like you paid for a 20-episode season and then got 10.

untaken_name:So...I guess we're gonna see 8-episode "seasons" of popular shows more often now. They're not mistaken. They're trying to set a precedent.

I think cable channels are doing this more and more.

ABC Family, for example, has two-three seasons of eachc of their shows. The"summer finales" are going to be coming up soon. My guess is that over the course of the year, their shows still get the 20-24 episodes we are generally used to.

AMC is the one that split the season, not Apple. The first half of the season is up on Netflix now, so it is very much separate from the half season that is currently airing. Doctor Who also did the same thing with their split seasons as well. As someone up thread mentioned, they basically charge you $3 per episode for HD with a small discount for the season pass, so it's not like they paid for 20 episodes.

untaken_name:So...I guess we're gonna see 8-episode "seasons" of popular shows more often now. They're not mistaken. They're trying to set a precedent.

Good. The Brits do it this way, and it makes for better tv. Producers don't have to pad out 8 episodes worth of ideas to get to a 23-episode season, and shorter seasons means you can get a bigger variety of series on the air every year (meaning a better chance to find something good). I've been waiting for that broadcast model to catch on in the US for years, and it might finally be happening. The big networks will resist it for a while, but if AMC, FX, and the others can get acclaimed for 8-12 episode seasons of great quality tv, maybe the big boys will eventually fall in line.

The only people who truly consider this to be one season are Sony, and that's because they'd have to give people raises if it were treated as two. And, as has been mentioned, they probably should have seen this coming, considering that Seasons 2-4 were all $30/each while Season 5 was only $22.

Uzzah:untaken_name: So...I guess we're gonna see 8-episode "seasons" of popular shows more often now. They're not mistaken. They're trying to set a precedent.

Good. The Brits do it this way, and it makes for better tv. Producers don't have to pad out 8 episodes worth of ideas to get to a 23-episode season, and shorter seasons means you can get a bigger variety of series on the air every year (meaning a better chance to find something good). I've been waiting for that broadcast model to catch on in the US for years, and it might finally be happening. The big networks will resist it for a while, but if AMC, FX, and the others can get acclaimed for 8-12 episode seasons of great quality tv, maybe the big boys will eventually fall in line.

I doubt that's going to become standard. The only reason Breaking Bad is doing it is because Gilligan wanted to wrap it up in one season but AMC wanted two years. So they did 16 episodes and split them in two. There are a few networks experimenting in short-form television (Sundance and IFC notably), but for the most part, 13 episodes is as few as any ad-supported network is going to want to go. And I'm actually okay with that. The British model can be good at times, but I don't mind having more episodes. It's not like shows can't put up good runs. The US version of The Office had more great episodes than the entire UK run. I guess I'm just willing to take the bad with the good.

I'm not sure why some shows have only a few episodes, I think its because when it was signed on as a show it wasn't picked up for a full season. For example I am waiting for Southland to come out, all seasons cost the same money - but season 1 had 7 episodes, season 2 6 episodes, 3 and 4 were 10 episodes.

Why not just get a cablecard and record it? I've had mine put to use so many times (TV shows, premium channel movies) that it more than paid for itself and monthly DVR subscriptions with shiatty harddrive space.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned how stupid it is to buy seasons of TV shows on iTunes in the first place when there are perfectly acceptable ways to watch these shows through other means.

(Personally, I don't think shows that are broadcast or on basic cable and ad-supported should cost more than 99 cents an episode anyhow; it's just greedy to charge 2.99-3.99 for an episode of a show that's already paid for by advertisers before it airs.)

But hey, if you're GOING to pay for a show, Breaking Bad is one of the few that's worth whatever you have to pay.

secularsage:I'm surprised no one has mentioned how stupid it is to buy seasons of TV shows on iTunes in the first place when there are perfectly acceptable ways to watch these shows through other means.

(Personally, I don't think shows that are broadcast or on basic cable and ad-supported should cost more than 99 cents an episode anyhow; it's just greedy to charge 2.99-3.99 for an episode of a show that's already paid for by advertisers before it airs.)

But hey, if you're GOING to pay for a show, Breaking Bad is one of the few that's worth whatever you have to pay.

Eh, you're paying to watch it without commercials and to KEEP IT. The Breaking Bad FIfth Season Blu-Ray retails for $65 and hits $30 on sale, but you can download it for $24 for iTunes. Seems to be a good deal to me.

untaken_name:So...I guess we're gonna see 8-episode "seasons" of popular shows more often now. They're not mistaken. They're trying to set a precedent.

They one-upped HBO cutting seasons from 12 to 10 episodes. They did it with "Girls" and they did it with this season of "True Blood." Not sure if they are doing it with other shows. The "True Blood" one really bugs me... it feels like it just started and it ends next week.

Mad_Radhu:AMC is the one that split the season, not Apple. The first half of the season is up on Netflix now, so it is very much separate from the half season that is currently airing. Doctor Who also did the same thing with their split seasons as well. As someone up thread mentioned, they basically charge you $3 per episode for HD with a small discount for the season pass, so it's not like they paid for 20 episodes.

They never split the season. It's PR bullshiat.

They lost the negotiations with Mad Men so to save money they cut Walking Dead's season 2 budget in half and reduced the episode order for Breaking Bad seasons 5 and 6 to eight episodes each.

After the shiatstorm they received when people heard about what happened to TWD, they called season 6 of BB part two of season 5.

I think in the Breaking Bad thing with Hardwick, Gillian refers to this season as "season 5 part two as the lawyers call it' or something to that effect.

Kaybeck:Mad_Radhu: AMC is the one that split the season, not Apple. The first half of the season is up on Netflix now, so it is very much separate from the half season that is currently airing. Doctor Who also did the same thing with their split seasons as well. As someone up thread mentioned, they basically charge you $3 per episode for HD with a small discount for the season pass, so it's not like they paid for 20 episodes.

They never split the season. It's PR bullshiat.

They lost the negotiations with Mad Men so to save money they cut Walking Dead's season 2 budget in half and reduced the episode order for Breaking Bad seasons 5 and 6 to eight episodes each.

After the shiatstorm they received when people heard about what happened to TWD, they called season 6 of BB part two of season 5.

I think in the Breaking Bad thing with Hardwick, Gillian refers to this season as "season 5 part two as the lawyers call it' or something to that effect.